A label printer that prints prescribed particulars on a label without a liner, or what is called a linerless label sheet having one surface which is a print surface and the other surface which is an affixing surface possessing an adhesive layer, cuts the label sheet according to the amount of characters printed thereon and dispenses an individual linerless label is known.
Further, where a normal elongated strip shaped label roll is composed of a liner whereon label sheets are temporarily adhered so as to be releasable form the roll at a uniform distance apart, a label affixing device that uses said roll in printing and dispensing labels, and affixing the printed and dispensed label to an article (for example, a packaged commodity packaged in stretch film (stretchable plastic film)) is also known.
When labels are printed and dispensed by the aforementioned label affixing device, given that the label lengths (the length along the longitudinal direction of the liner) are all the same for each label temporarily adhered to a single liner label roll, the label lengths for the labels printed with the prescribed particulars and dispensed are all the same. Accordingly, if there is a predetermined position for affixing the label (for example, at the bottom right of a commodity), the movement of the label affixing device can be controlled so that the label is affixed at the predetermined position.
However, in the case of the aforementioned linerless label, each label is not of predetermined length and a label affixing device cuts the linerless label sheet in relation to the amount of data printed (that is, the amount of printed information) on the linerless label sheet to form an individual label (a single label). Therefore, for labels cut and dispensed from the same linerless label roll, the label length for each dispensed label will differ. In addition, if an ordinary liner label affixing technology for affixing a label to an article is used to affix linerless labels having differing label lengths, for the ordinary liner label, the conditions for affixing the labels are constant because the labels temporarily adhered to a single label roll have all the same length, and therefore as illustrated previously, partway through the label roll, for instance if the label length becomes longer or shorter, there is the case that the label is not affixed at the proper position on the article to be labeled. Specifically, there are problems such as, the label is affixed jutting out from the labeled article, or the amount of blank space from between a prescribed location (for example, the bottom right corner of the labeled article) and the affixed position is not constant, and so forth.
In addition, when products with labels affixed in a non-uniform manner are placed on a store shelf, the overall appearance is visually unappealing, and the desire of the consumer to buy the product may be lowered as result.
A conventional linerless label affixing device using a linerless label roll pulls out a linerless label sheet from the linerless label roll, uses an auto-cutter (label cutter) to cut the linerless label sheet into an individual linerless label of a prescribed length, and thereafter holds the linerless label sheet with a holder provided in front of label dispensing outlet. A label affixer receives the linerless label held by the holder and subsequently affixes the linerless label to the outer surface of an article to be labeled (a packaged good).
Nevertheless, there are cases where the label cannot be held at the prescribed holding position. For example, the label affixing device shown in FIG. 22 pulls out a label sheet 82 from a linerless label roll, auto-cutter 81 (generally comprised of a fixed blade and an up and down movable blade) cuts the label sheet into a prescribed length forming thereby an individual linerless label L. At this point in time, because of the force of the cut of the cutter (the movable blade) and the reaction when the movable blade separates (that is, the rebound when the end part of the label warped by the cutting action of the movable blade tries to return to its original position) the cut linerless label L flies towards the dispensing direction (the feeding direction) (see FIG. 22(a)) and thus cannot be held at the prescribed holding position. Consequently, the label is affixed to the article to be labeled in the aforementioned dislocated fashion, or in a tilting manner, the label juts out from the labeled article, or possibly the amount of blank space between a prescribed location (for example, the bottom right corner of the labeled article) and the affixed position is not constant, and so forth, and there is a lack of uniformity between the affixed position and the position setting for the label.
The label sheet 82 of the linerless label roll is comprised of a printing surface on one side and an affixing surface on the side opposite thereto on which there is an adhesive layer; for this reason, when the auto-cutter 81 cuts the label sheet 82 the paste on the adhesive layer sticks to the auto cutter 81 and so forth, leading to the linerless label L to skew (rotate horizontally) with respect to a given location (with a given location as the fulcrum). (See FIG. 22(b)). As a result the cut linerless label L will remain in a skewed position on top of the holder 83 and if the skewed label is affixed to the article to be labeled as is, this will result in the label jutting out from the labeled article, or possibly will result in the amount of blank space between a prescribed location (for example, the bottom right corner of the labeled article) and the affixed position on the article not being constant, and so forth, and thus there is a lack of uniformity between the affixed position and the position setting for the label.
Additionally, there are cases where labels with a length and width smaller than the standard sized linerless label which is of length 40 mm by width 60 mm (where the aforementioned length is the feeding direction of the label) are used. A holder holds the linerless label on the sides of both end parts in the width direction orthogonal to the feeding direction of the cut linerless label and in the above mentioned cases, the holding position of the holder must be adjusted to accommodate the width for a label with a smaller length and width. However, if the holding position of the holder is not adjusted, the holder may not be able to hold the cut and dispensed linerless label and consequently the label affixer cannot affix the linerless label to the article to be labeled because the holder is not holding the received label.